Digital Bill in France: There’s more to do for simple home sharing rules

Last week, members of the French Parliament agreed on the content of the digital bill. This bill contains proposals that could have significant consequences for Airbnb hosts in France and make occasional home sharing more complex. The bill should be officially voted by both houses this Autumn.

While we continue to believe the provisions of this bill related to home sharing are bad for innovation and protect vested interests of incumbent industries, we are encouraged to see how the bill has evolved in response to the community’s efforts.

Here are some of the changes you have helped influence:

Limited scope – The bill will mainly apply to big cities and will only be activated if local authorities choose. In those cities, hosts will be required to notify authorities before they share their space. Where local authorities choose not to implement the new powers, nothing will change for hosts.

Simple online process – Hosts will not be required to queue at City Hall, as had been proposed. This has been replaced with an online notification process that is easy to follow.

Immediate response – Once affected hosts notify local authorities of their intention to share their space, they will receive an immediate response and declaration number and can proceed at once.

However, there is still work to do.

We encourage decision makers in France to continue listening to regular people who share their homes to help make ends meet – we know they rely on clear and simple rules that are easy to follow.

In the coming days and weeks, we will continue to explore every option to stand up for our community, and to work with cities in France so that elected officials understand the positive economic, social and environmental impacts of home sharing.

We will continue to keep you updated on this bill and how you can support efforts to maintain clear and simple home sharing rules.